"'Can this be my father's sister!' said she to herself; and then the conviction that she was so, warming her heart with something like kindness towards her, she felt anxious to soften the harsh impression her mind had received of her aunt's character, and to shew a willingness to oblige her."
— Radcliffe [née Ward], Ann (1764-1823)
Work Title
Place of Publication
London
Publisher
Printed for G. G. and J. Robinson
Date
1794
Metaphor
"'Can this be my father's sister!' said she to herself; and then the conviction that she was so, warming her heart with something like kindness towards her, she felt anxious to soften the harsh impression her mind had received of her aunt's character, and to shew a willingness to oblige her."
Metaphor in Context
Emily suppressed a starting tear, and tried to smile away the expression of an oppressed heart; she was thinking of her home, and felt too sensibly the arrogance and ostentatious vanity of Madame Cheron's conversation. "Can this be my father's sister!" said she to herself; and then the conviction that she was so, warming her heart with something like kindness towards her, she felt anxious to soften the harsh impression her mind had received of her aunt's character, and to shew a willingness to oblige her. The effort did not entirely fail; she listened with apparent chearfulness, while Madame Cheron expatiated on the splendour of her house, told of the numerous parties she entertained, and what she should expect of Emily, whose diffidence assumed the air of a reserve, which her aunt, believing it to be that of pride and ignorance united, now took occasion to reprehend. She knew nothing of the conduct of a mind, that fears to trust its own powers; which, possessing a nice judgment, and inclining to believe, that every other person perceives still more critically, fears to commit itself to censure, and seeks shelter in the obscurity of silence. Emily had frequently blushed at the fearless manners, which she had seen admired, and the brilliant nothings, which she had heard applauded; yet this applause, so far from encouraging her to imitate the conduct that had won it, rather made her shrink into the reserve, that would protect her from such absurdity.
(I, 315-6; p. 113 in Penguin)
(I, 315-6; p. 113 in Penguin)
Categories
Provenance
Reading
Citation
9 entries in ESTC (1794, 1795, 1799, 1800).
The Mysteries of Udolpho, a Romance; Interspersed with some Pieces of Poetry. By Ann Radcliffe, Author of the Romance of the Forest, etc. 4 vols. (London: Printed for G. G. and J. Robinson, 1794). <Link to ECCO><Link to ECCO-TCP, Vol. I>
Reading The Mysteries of Udolpho, ed. Jacqueline Howard (New York: Penguin Books, 2001).
The Mysteries of Udolpho, a Romance; Interspersed with some Pieces of Poetry. By Ann Radcliffe, Author of the Romance of the Forest, etc. 4 vols. (London: Printed for G. G. and J. Robinson, 1794). <Link to ECCO><Link to ECCO-TCP, Vol. I>
Reading The Mysteries of Udolpho, ed. Jacqueline Howard (New York: Penguin Books, 2001).
Date of Entry
03/06/2014
